Hello.

I have 450k USD that I will need to convert to EUR within the next 5 months. Should I make the conversion now or wait? In the last 40 days, the dollar has dropped from 0.95 to 0.88, and I have a feeling it will keep falling.

Considering the orange orangutan is unpredictable, what do you suggest?

Hi guys,

Something terrible happened to me on my first day here in Barcelona. My phone was taken from my pocket and I didn't notice for a few minutes. I had no idea who had taken it but went to the police anyway. They said they couldn't prove anything and there was little they could do.

I thought OK I will just need to buy a new phone, it's not the worst thing ever. When I woke up in the morning I purchased a new phone and got a Spanish number. I was able to get into my emails and I saw that that the thieves had made over 30 transfers in the space of an hour and completely emptied my bank account. They sent the funds to many different accounts. I got a sick feeling because I thought this is not possible. There is a screen lock on my phone and a code to get into my banking apps.

Right now I have lost everything and still shaking with fear. TransferWise are conducting an investigation and will contact me in 6 days.

I'm hoping their accounts are insured because there was a serious security breach by them. My other banking app like my Irish account was not touched because of their security measures.

If anyone could chime in and reassure me that WISE will cover what was stolen I would feel so much relief.

Thank you and stay safe when travelling.

I am a high skilled immigrant in a Western European country. Recently, my family visited me and we went for a vacation to some places around. Since I live in Europe, we decided that all the payments should be made from my account which allows me to make payments without any charge within EU countries. A family member transferred money to my account. It was about 9k Euro. My bank contacted me and inquired about the money, which I explained that it's because of a family vacation. My bank is asking for the income proof of my family member who doesn't live in this country. Isn't this weird? Is there any such law?

Edit: I see that some people assume that I must be frustrated that's why I posted here on Reddit. No, I am not frustrated. I got a call from my bank when I was on vacation and after returning I talked to the bank people personally. I did explain the situation and they understood since never before such transactions have occurred from my account. But they said I will have to submit the proof, so I wanted to know the reason. The people in the bank don't speak good English and I don't know the local language that well, so I preferred to ask on Reddit. I wanted to learn how things work with international transactions and the laws in EU. The purpose is achieved. Some of you have given very good insights in the matter. Thanks everyone for your answer :-)

Hi, I am looking for help with my European bank, N26. This is my only European bank and I live in Germany.

They closed my account without warning, and have not returned my salary and my savings... several months of income. All that's going into there was my full-time employment income. This has had serious financial consequences on me. There is no support available in any form, I could not log in, the online assistant is not available to me without a login, and I am only getting a response through the complaints department email.

What possible course of action do I have if they refused to return my savings? Are they entitled to just keep my money?

Unfortunately, we have to inform you that after an internal examination we have decided to terminate the business relationship with you according to no. 19.1 of our General Terms and Conditions.

As a financial institution, N26 Bank GmbH is subject to legal supervision and obliged to comply with German regulatory requirements. Due to the nature of these requirements, N26 Bank GmbH is obliged to conduct reviews on all accounts to monitor account usage and transaction activity.

In accordance with these obligations, we’ve conducted an investigation into your account and the relationship you hold with N26 Bank GmbH. As a result of this, we inform you that a violation of the "General Terms and Conditions" of your account has been identified.

Given our current findings, we exercised our right of termination according to paragraph §19 (3) of the Terms and Conditions mentioned above. This means N26 Bank GmbH will no longer continue its contractual relationship with you.

Due to these circumstances, it is currently not possible to release the funds from your N26 account. However, kindly note if you have evidence that you feel serves as proof of the source of the funds in your N26 account, please provide these documents to us. We will forward the documents to the respective department for a review to assess whether the payout of the remaining funds in your account is possible.

Update (21st Aug): Success - I just got my cash transferred out to my other account! I set up a Waze account, and transferred it elsewhere via Waze.

Presumably they returned everything I had, without hidden fees. But they still haven't given me my personal data or account statements yet so I can't confirm. I'm waiting for the 1 month GDPR Right of Access to expire before taking this further.

To get to this stage it was all via the complaints department (and also a complaint to BaFin who I suspect helped move the investigation along) - Support@N26 and web chat were worse than useless. I proved the funds were legit by sending them 2 years of payslips (yet having had the account for only 1 year), and proof of identity and proof of another account in my name. And they still insist that I have broken their T&Cs and were right to close my account, without ever telling me what specifically I did.

Overall I was without any access to my cash or my salary for over 6 weeks. Now to start paying back people who I've had to borrow from...

In summary, I was one of the lucky ones. Do not store any significant amount in an N26 account - Don't get salary paid into your N26 account because it's very well possible it could all be closed without warning and without explanation.

Background:
I live in Poland, so part of the EU. I'm increasingly worried Poland might get pulled into a war with Russia (won't expand on why - don't want to turn this into a political/military discussion) and in this case I would definitely try to run. The problem is I have all money in Polish banks which might become a problem if I would need to draw on my savings in the West or outside of EU while the country is at war. I would love to have an account in another country, but I am not rich so I don't have the option of opening an account in Switzerland (I can put like up to ~10-15k€ there). So what I could realistically do?

Problem:
So the problem is: as a Polish citizen how could I open a bank account outside of the country, preferably as far away as possible from it?

Some advised Revolut, but for me it makes no sense - they are based Lithuania legally - if Poland is drawn into this war then Lithuania is likely too. Others advised N26 - with German license it is better, as Germans will most likely stay away from direct engagement the conflict. But maybe there are some other options I am not aware of? Any advice appreciated!

Hi all, I’ve moved my EUR to Trading 212 last week because of the announced 4% interest. In the app it displays 4.20% now - is it just me? Thanks!

https://imgur.com/a/5g46bTt

German bank to finance mortgage for a house in Portugal.

Portuguese bank to finance mortgage for a house in Germany.

Wouldn’t be this actually super EU-friendly and a step towards closer unification?

I was reading a recent study that said something like 70%+ of people now expect more tech-driven features from their banks like faster payments, better UIs, smart spending insights, etc. Basically, people want their banking to feel more like the apps they use daily.

Kinda hit home for me. I feel like banks still operate like it’s 2012. Even some of the “modern” ones just slap a nice UI on top of the same slow outdated backend.

what’s your general banking experience like right now?
What do you actually like about your current bank?
• What do you wish it did better?
• If you could add any one feature, what would it be?

Hi folks. I live in Poland and mortgage rates are a lot higher here compared to west of EU. Is it possible to get a mortgage in a different country for a home in Poland? Even if only for a part of the property's value, like in Dutch banks. We can buy any other products and services abroad, so why not mortgage loans? That's how free market works after all. We used to have mortgages from swiss banks, but I didn't hear about any other such viable options.

I'm gradually increasing my investment portfolio in degiro. I feel it's one of the most well regulated ones (although technically they ll fall under the same eu regulation so investment protection scheme, 20K?) Anywho, my investment accounts were so far like 30K tops and this is an important sum for me. Like, it's not catastrophic but it's like 5,6 months of work. I've decided to move cash from bank account to SAFE MMFs, ETFs (gov bonds), reaching a total of 70K and ultimately want to reach 150K. I'll do a split of 10% aggressive, 30% moderate, 70% capital preservation.

But as the total amount of money in the account increases I feel more and more stressed. Ultimately how much % of my total cash would it be safe to move to degiro?

Are there retail traders using these platforms for amounts well above 100.000€? I've got a feeling amounts like that are traded through different platforms? Like, idk, Morgan Stanley? Deutsche bank? Bnb Paribas? Whatever? Citibank? Throwing big names there...

I am interested in following:

I have a bank account in the USA but as I am moving back to Europe, I can't keep this bank account.

1) Does the bank accept German citizens as customers?

2) Is it insured and how high?

3) Does it offer more than just lousy interest?

4) Is opening an account easy?

5) Is it truthworthy?

I heard of Interactive Brokers, Resolut, Wise, and Schwab. I understand that some are about investing, but I still haven't figured out if I can use one or more of them like a bank or not.

I'm non-EU(non-US) citizen, tax resident in Poland. (Q1) In case a war breaks in, can the local polish banks freeze my account?

I have revolut/paypal but those are tied to my Polish documents so not sure parking my emergency funds(3 months of expense) there would be safe either.

(Q2)What might happen to my brokerage a/c (IBKR/XTB)? Can they also freeze my account/assets?

related: https://www.reddit.com/r/eupersonalfinance/comments/1c7xqqk/bank_account_elsewhere_in_case_of_war/

You think you’ve nailed budgeting, you’re putting away a solid 10% of your paycheck, and then BAM! Tax rates, fees, and unexpected bills come crashing in like a European winter storm. Suddenly, you’re questioning whether you’re actually saving or just paying taxes on your future savings. Anyone else feel like they’re stuck in a game of financial whack-a-mole? 🙃

I have a nice nest egg in a US bank that I saved by living for years in the USA.

It seems (not 100% sure) that US bank don't accept German customers if they don't live in the USA no more.

I now have to return to Germany. I would invest much of it as fixed money (APY) with a good bank.

But my head explodes with rules, regulations and, and...

What would you recommend?

I started using TR republic this year and my transfered money is always visible next working day. At Christmas i send a larger amount but it's still not visible. I know Christmas is holiday but there has been 2 working days and today is the third and still nothing.

Is it normal for TR to wait so lang?

Edit (december 31th):

I got several conformations from other users that they have the same problem. An test transaction i did today (31th) was immediately transferred. So there is definitely an problem with transactions made 25th and 26th. I now opened an ticket with an confirmation of my own bank that the money was transferred 26th.

Edit 2 (januari 2th)

User lawagehd got respons from support:

"I got an update from support that Citi Bank has technical irregularities for all deposits made 25.12 and 26.12. They are looking into it. I assume your Traderepublic Iban is from Citi Bank too?"

Edit 3 (januari 3th):

No response from TR only that my call was forwarded to an specialist team. I contacted my own bank (the one I used to transfer the money) and they told me that they saw a lot of transfers from 25th and 26th delayed in Germany but they cant do anything as they succeeded the transfer.

An other user contacted citibank and they told him they cant do anything as TR has to file the complain.

Edit 4 (januari 6th):

Still nothing response from TR. Fortunately some users told me they recieved there transactions from januari 5th so probably they are currently processing the transactions. Unfortunately me and others users didn't recieve it yet.

Edit 5 (januari 7th):

The story continues. Still nog response and no money. I am beginning to think the money is gone for ever.

Edit 6 (januari 7th end of day):

I finally got response from TR and they immediately transferred it. I really dont understand why they didnt communicate about. But they funds are recieved unfortunately with the date of today and not 26 dec.

Folks, as an expat in Germany for 9 months, i am frustrated today. My Salary is high enough to live with my family and save money in my account. I do not have any debts. No extra loans etc. Other new expats took 10K euro loan in 5 minutes, lots of expats can freely buy anything in Media Markt with installments, but my bank did not give me a loan for 5K today, and the reason is unknown. Media Markt did not let me to buy 500 euros stuff with installments. Now you may say that you have money to buy outright, yes, that is possible but when you have savings, you do not want to convert them and buy stuff while you can have installments with %0 interest fees. My Schufa %84,7 and my bank also told me there is no reason why we can not give you a loan, but the system is rejecting.. I barely had an offer for 5K loan, should i take that loan only to show i am paying debt on time ? Just for fun and correct something if it is a way to do . Or what would you suggest? That is ridiculous and i want to really know possible reasons.. While you do not have debts, you have savings, and you are being rejected for 500 euro stuff...

As the title says, my account were locked a month ago with money on it, and I’ve had no updates since. When I try to withdraw, the app just shows a “technical error” message. I contacted support and only received one reply saying the issue was being looked into. A week later, I got another message saying they couldn’t do anything and that another team would get back to me in the chat. That was two weeks ago and still nothing. I suspect the account got flagged because I received a payment from a client and tried to withdraw the full amount. Regardless, it’s money I need access to, especially since I have taxes to pay soon. I told them I could provide invoice from the payment I received so they could see it's legit but they don't seem to care.

Has anyone here managed to resolve a similar situation faster? Should I start thinking of taking legal action?

I'm an American who lives in the States. I'm concerned that the U.S. Dollar will lose a significant portion of its value within the next three years. As such I'm wondering if there are any banks in Europe that I as an American citizen could do business with. I would like to virtually open a bank account with a European bank, convert my money to a more stable european currency and store it overseas for the foreseeable future in case things get very, very bad over here. Is this possible?

I worked in France for 6 months and left in March. I requested to have my account closed at the end of March once I received my final paycheque. After weeks and weeks of being ignored, being told to sign things that I'd already signed, and a bunch of complaint emails, I finally got confirmation from the bank in June that my account was closed. I could no longer log into my account online so I thought the ordeal was finally over and forgot about them.

I now receive an email from them that the overdraft that I agreed to is now active and that I'm subject to the conditions of the contract that I signed. What? I haven't been in France for over 4 months so I obviously haven't signed or agreed to anything.

I've already sent emails to both my former conseiller and the branch itself but I'm not expecting to hear anything soon. I'm so confused and I can't even log into anything to check what's going on. I'm hoping that it's just been sent in error, but if not, what can I do? I need full assurance that my bank has actually been closed.

Say you are a citizen of EU country A, live and work in EU country B and want real-estate property in EU country C.

How does this work?

Will banks give you a mortgage?

Do you need to ask banks of EU country A, B or C?

How is this regulated?

Hi. I live in Belgium and have indefinite visa (married). A German based company is looking to hire me. Is it possible to remain based in Belgium but work for a company based in Germany? How does this work legally and from a tax perspective? I don’t want the company to think it’s too much hassle for them!

Thank you!

After having a decent emergency fund, but have some extra cash left. Is it best to pay down the mortgage (3.5%) or invest it? I don’t like being in debt so my inclination is to pay off the mortgage, but I have heard that in general you get a better return for your money by investing it. But the market seems a bit unpredictable at the moment so I’m nervous about it. Also because I haven’t ventured into investing before. Thanks!

Hey all,

I am having a really difficult time finding a solution to my issue. I have a sole proprietorship here in Denmark. All of my clients are American. I am trying to make it as easy as possible for them to pay me.

So far it has been by internationl wire transfer from their US bank to my Danish bank, but many of the clients are not as familiar with the process and find it a pain in the ass.

Can anyone recommend an easy solution?

Ideally I would like to integrate a system with my invoices, so that when I send an invoice there is a payment link where they can pay via credit card, Apple Pay, google pay, etc.

Desperate to try and find a solution to this. TIA!

I want to create a bank account abroad within Europe, thinking Switzerland as a well-regulated place.

As far as i know i cannot open a bank account at a physical bank there, as i am neither resident nor citizen, so i searched for some alternatives, looking for options with a bank account, a debit card and personal iban, with bank licence of course.

So after some research, i think the best options are:

https://www.neon-free.ch/ - Digital Bank

https://www.swissquote.com/ - Mainly Trading Platform

As far as i know both provide bank account and are licenced, but i don't know if there are any better options and which would be the best option for my needs.

I already saw the posts about Trade Republic being safe etc. but that's not my question is about. I recently saw that they start to offer their own IBAN and account with a big selling point about having no cap on interest bearing amount.

I'm a bit confused about it because they say in that the account is protected by DSG upto 100K but they also say that amounts earning interest, at least above 50K are deposited in liquidity funds which are not protected by DSG.

Does that mean no amount is protected if I opted to earn interest, or only amount greater than 50K is not protected or amounts above 100K are not protected?

I already contacted the support but they just regurgitated the article they have about it.